[Majestyk]

I’ve been running my cans for over 100 hours or so, they do improved pretty much I think, but not as I expectes it to be. May be I got the effective ones, who knows (
Btw My HD660s treble do sound significantly brighter than my colleague’s when using the same pads.

What year are your 660S from? When you remove the pads you should see a date on the driver.

EDIT...Actually, I should have first asked if they are the Ireland or Romania version. If Romania then no need to check.

 

[minty1]

I believe he already swapped pads.

I did read that part but he never mentioned which pads were swapped. Just wanted confirmation that he had tried the more worn out pads on his set.

 

[mmq2404]

Mine are the Romania version with old design, no "Made in Ireland" printed on.

I tried each pair of pads on both, the leaner pads do easier to listen to compared to the newer.
But the treble difference is too obviously even when they're still on the table, without wearing them.

I will give them a little more time to see if any magic appears tho.

 

[Majestyk]

I should have also asked... Which ones does your friend have? Ireland or Romania?

I got a chance to do some brief comparisons of my Ireland vs Romania (my newest ones) and they do sound a little different. The Ireland are definitely smoother sounding. But I do like the brighter character of the Romania.

There's no break-in issue here because my Ireland is only a few weeks old with less than 4 hours of playback time...plus they don't sound any different from when I first got them. The pads are 95% the same with both pairs. I do not as yet detect any graininess with the Romania 660S.

So right now I like the sound of both. In the near future I'll report back on which pair I think sound best.

A couple other MINOR observations... Ok this one is weird but all the Ireland Sennheiser headphones I have purchased (the ones that come with the hard inner box) have a nice (and very consistent) smell to them. The Romania ones smell kind of meh. Also, the cords on the Romania have a heavy vinyl smell to them. The Ireland ones do not.

The inner hard box that comes with the Romania 660S is lighter with thinner material.

 

[minty1]

I should have also asked... Which ones does your friend have? Ireland or Romania?

I got a chance to do some brief comparisons of my Ireland vs Romania (my newest ones) and they do sound a little different. The Ireland are definitely smoother sounding. But I do like the brighter character of the Romania.

There's no break-in issue here because my Ireland is only a few weeks old with less than 4 hours of playback time...plus they don't sound any different from when I first got them. The pads are 95% the same with both pairs. I do not as yet detect any graininess with the Romania 660S.

So right now I like the sound of both. In the near future I'll report back on which pair I think sound best.

A couple other MINOR observations... Ok this one is weird but all the Ireland Sennheiser headphones I have purchased (the ones that come with the hard inner box) have a nice (and very consistent) smell to them. The Romania ones smell kind of meh. Also, the cords on the Romania have a heavy vinyl smell to them. The Ireland ones do not.

The inner hard box that comes with the Romania 660S is lighter with thinner material.

Interesting results, sound is subjective of course. I ran both my Romania built 660 and my Ireland built 660 on a single THX 789 with two fresh pads from the factory and didn't notice any real differences. Ran the test again using two THX 789 amps in the same configuration but balanced and single ended on using two identical cables and noticed no difference.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Interesting results, sound is subjective of course. I ran both my Romania built 660 and my Ireland built 660 on a single THX 789 with two fresh pads from the factory and didn't notice any real differences. Ran the test again using two THX 789 amps in the same configuration but balanced and single ended on using two identical cables and noticed no difference.

And also MikeF on this thread has Ireland and Romania made pairs and has said that there are basically no differences in sound. He said there are incredibly minor differences between the 4 660S units he's tried. So it sounds to me like it's all about minor driver variation, not Ireland vs Romania sound difference. Maybe Majestyk happened upon two pairs that are at opposite poles of the driver variation.

 

[Majestyk]

And also MikeF on this thread has Ireland and Romania made pairs and has said that there are basically no differences in sound. He said there are incredibly minor differences between the 4 660S units he's tried. So it sounds to me like it's all about minor driver variation, not Ireland vs Romania sound difference. Maybe Majestyk happened upon two pairs that are at opposite poles of the driver variation.

It's also possible that the different materials can have a small effect on the sound. This post on another forum seems to suggest that with the HD600's...

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/hd600.171/page-15#post-293054

 

[mmq2404]

I should have also asked... Which ones does your friend have? Ireland or Romania?

I got a chance to do some brief comparisons of my Ireland vs Romania (my newest ones) and they do sound a little different. The Ireland are definitely smoother sounding. But I do like the brighter character of the Romania.

There's no break-in issue here because my Ireland is only a few weeks old with less than 4 hours of playback time...plus they don't sound any different from when I first got them. The pads are 95% the same with both pairs. I do not as yet detect any graininess with the Romania 660S.

So right now I like the sound of both. In the near future I'll report back on which pair I think sound best.

A couple other MINOR observations... Ok this one is weird but all the Ireland Sennheiser headphones I have purchased (the ones that come with the hard inner box) have a nice (and very consistent) smell to them. The Romania ones smell kind of meh. Also, the cords on the Romania have a heavy vinyl smell to them. The Ireland ones do not.

The inner hard box that comes with the Romania 660S is lighter with thinner material.

Mine are Romania, my colleague's are Ireland.
Note that my cans are old design Made In Romania, my colleague's are new design but ... Made In Ireland, is this normal?

 

[minty1]

Mine are Romania, my colleague's are Ireland.
Note that my cans are old design Made In Romania, my colleague's are new design but ... Made In Ireland, is this normal?

Do you have detailed pictures of your colleagues 660? The revised 660 should be from Romania. Checking the box should also help confirm its origins along with the model number.

 

[Majestyk]

Mine are Romania, my colleague's are Ireland.
Note that my cans are old design Made In Romania, my colleague's are new design but ... Made In Ireland, is this normal?

No, that's not even close to normal. All the Ireland are the old design. Some of the early Romania are the old design. The latest Romania that come in the grey & white outter box are the new design.

 

[Majestyk]

See @Asspirin post above for the correct info on the pads.

From what I can gather and from my direct experience of four HD660S models the timeline was as follows:-

1./ Original production model. Made in Ireland and had 'Made in Ireland' stamped on inside of headband. Original box with Made in Ireland printed on it. See through Sennheiser 'S' badge.

2./ Same as the above but with solid Sennheiser 'S' badge.

3./ Original model, but production moved to Romania. No 'Made in Ireland' stamp on headband (obviously). Original box but with adhesive sticker saying 'Made in Romania' over the printed 'Made in Ireland' text. Solid 'S' badge.

4./ New model (updated stying) made in Romania. No country of manufacture stamp on headband. New style box (outer sleeve - the actual box is the same) with 'Made in Romania' printed. Solid 'S' badge.

If anyone has any corrections or additions, please inform!

Here are the variations posted by Mike F. Note that some of the Ireland models had a solid badge. So you can't go by the badge to determine if they are Ireland or not.

 

[Headstar]

An easier way to know which design are, is to look where the three dots indicating the Left cup are. If they are on the side, it's the new design, if they are on the front side, along with the HD 660S badge, then it's the old design. If you have L & R in a circle, stamped on under the HD 660S it's clearly the old design. If it doesn't, it's the new one!

 

[Tripokaridos]

Pads from Drop Velour arrived and tested... How is this possible for a pad to make such a difference ? Bass its more and over the place it feels uncontrolled not tight ? Also openness and clarity are for vacations... Take them off and now i use them on HD650 just because they are softer with memmory foam and make 650 even more vailed and smooth on bad recordings.
Even soundstage take a hit with that thicker pads , strange ....
Anyways HD660s are with original pads again it was an experiment that i want it to listen for my self.

Ps. After a lot of listening between 650 and 660s on the same dac same songs with the original pads and stock cable i hear something strange... 660s sounded more detailed and bright not veiled like everyone already said, But... On some tracks some high notes was way more harsh and bright on HD650 i didnt expect that i was going back again and again and yeah some notes was for sure harsh and grainy on.HD650 than 660 that was smoother. What was that ?

 

[Ichos]

Well why do you think that this is so strange?
Pads are a crucial part of the headphone tuning and I there are not there only for comfort.
There are a lot of headphone manufactures who use pad rolling for fine tuning / altering frequency response.
Major example is ZMF.

 

[Tripokaridos]

Well why do you think that this is so strange?
Pads are a crucial part of the headphone tuning and I there are not there only for comfort.
There are a lot of headphone manufactures who use pad rolling for fine tuning / altering frequency response.
Major example is ZMF.

Because I thought more space between the ears and driver would make soundstage bigger. But like u said and its true pads do make huge difference , but again why they destroy the sound on HD6 series ? I read on forums that a lot of people use for example Dekonis on DT1990 and fix some spikes on highs, Or HD800 . Did they make such a perfect tuning on HD6 series that is now way to make it better ?